Alliance of Communities for Sustainable Fisheries
256 Figueroa Street #1, Monterey, CA 93940
(831) 373-5238
www.alliancefisheries.com

State’s Marine Protected Areas

 Not A Prescription for Ocean Health 

On August 15^th the California Fish and Game Commission considered several “Packages” of networks of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) along the Central Coast. MPAs are areas where some or all fishing is prohibited.  This is part of the implementation of the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA).  The network they adopted, mostly on 3-2 votes, has fatal flaws. This MPA network will not assure ocean health, does not utilize the best science, ignores key stakeholder advice, will cause both environmental and needless economic harm, and exceeds the requirements of the law.

Fishermen support the MLPA’s implementation and participated in this process in a constructive manner.  Our knowledge of the ocean tells us that there is a place for MPAs as a tool for conservation. However, like a medicine, they must be used for the right “illness” and in the right amount. Also like medicine, misapplication of MPAs can have either no benefit to the environment, or cause harm.

The California Fisheries Coalition’s (CFC) knowledge of the ocean caused us to seriously question some of the claims of the benefits of MPAs, and the science advice that the State received from a select group of scientists. As a result, we commissioned three world-renowned fishery biologists to review the scientific basis for the use of MPAs in this process. 

Their report illustrates that MPAs can benefit some sedentary nearshore species, but most species found in California are far too mobile to be protected in a discrete MPA area.  Further, modern fishing rules have become highly precautionary. The use of “quotas” – scientifically determined limits on the amount of fish that can be caught – have become very conservative. Since quotas are used for all of the large biomass species, including rockfish, new MPAs will not change the amount of fish being caught.  It will change where they are caught, and how much effort, expense, and danger is involved in catching them.  This means that for many of the MPAs created by the State, they will fail to meet the ecosystem goals of the MLPA, and in the opinion of the three scientists, will “create only the illusion of protection”.

The result will not be a healthier ocean, but the concentration of fishing in other less productive areas.  The whole ocean ecosystem needs to be cared for, not just MPAs. 

The fishermen’s MPA Plan is the only recommendation that takes a balanced view of all the rules and tools available to provide for true ocean health. The CFC tailored a highly conservationist plan, which coordinated existing fishery management measures with the use of MPAs in certain areas, and for species, were it makes ecosystem sense: the right medicine for the right illness. Our plan satisfies ALL of the goals and requirements of the MLPA. 

We tried to get the State to deal with water quality, but the MLPA process was to be all about the removal of fishermen from the water, even though the National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA) testified that overfishing is no longer a problem.

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